The Blog

My "due date" came and went & it was Thursday 29th March. I was 41+2. The 'I' word was mentioned & it was booked for Sunday 1st April (which I would have politely declined all being well) I declined a cervical sweep while I was with the midwife then regretted it a little so made the decision to have one the next day instead! I tried to stay positive but really I was a little on edge about the prospect of having to go to the WHH to be monitored every day that I was 'overdue' purely for the inconvenience! After the sweep I promptly went out food shopping to help things along & stock up on a few essentials *cough COOKIES cough* then spent the evening feeling a bit crampy & sore from the sweep so i went to bed (after deciding to clean the bathroom sink at gone 11pm, it might have even been gone 12am )

I woke up the next morning at about 4:55 needing a wee & immediately felt the disappointment of not going into labour over night & that I was going to be pregnant for at least another day. So I went to the toilet & had a 'clear out'. It caught me off guard a bit but thought nothing of it as it had been the norm for weeks. As soon as I got back into bed I felt a tightening & another shortly after so decided to time them 7-8 minutes apart so I woke Jon up & we finished setting up the pool together, Jon called the singleton unit so they could send round the on call midwife & i messaged my mum shortly after as she was coming over to take care of the girls. By this point the surges were getting stronger and every 3-4 minutes apart.

As I practiced hypnobirthing I visualised a heavy iron gate of a castle (think GOT) being drawn upwards with each surge & the colours of the rainbow chakras surrounding me. Jon had run a bath as we remembered it helped with controlling the sensations with my first labour but I didn't actually get in! The girls woke up & Isla started to help daddy fill the pool up, they were so excited and were VERY attentive, Isla was stroking me and reminding me to breath and Sienna was taking to me about baby Elsie being born in the pool!

The midwife arrived & set up around me as i clung on to the end of my bed (which is practically in the doorway) and the girls weaving in and out of people & going through her stuff. At this point I was really wishing my mum was here to keep them occupied but she still hadn't arrived! A second midwife turned up and I felt the need to vocalise my breathing through the surges, like a long oooooooo noise that I could feel in my throat & felt a shift, like gravity was pulling my baby down! This was my queue to get in to the pool so I got in & felt the relief of the water on my lower back and around my bump, Jon and the girls joined me around the pool side as I continued to surge and "oooo" I squeezed Jon's hand for extra relief and the girls got front row seats on my bed. After a few extra strong surges... POP went my waters along with the involuntary urge to push, the downwards pressure was intense and continual & I was surprised that it didn't come with a surge so with gentle breathing and a little bit of pushing I continued to bring my baby into the world in a way that felt right for her & my body! I felt her head emerge with my hands & calmly (although it was quick) the rest of her followed, I brought her up and out of the water and onto my chest as I sat back and with the rush of endorphins I just laughed & breathed with relief. It was calm, amazing & perfect and she was calm & amazing & perfect

Ps, mum made it, 5 minutes too late!

From Holly in Folkestone

Holly attended our group hypnobirthing course in Folkestone with Katy . She had her baby last week and has shared her beautiful birth story

Head on over here to read more about us or book your own place on our courses , in Folkestone , Faversham, Maidstone and Margate